My husband and I both have retirement accounts: 401K’s, Roth IRA, Gold IRA. We are in a good place financially but have a lot of questions. Where to put our retirement dollars! The Gold has lost 33% of it’s value in the last 10 years. The 401K’s have lost approximately $1000. per month for the last 18 months. The only one seemingly promising is the Roth IRA. What to do? Put all eggs in one basket or keep diversifying? I’m to the point of putting all my money under the mattress!
I think your question need a solid review by a reliable financial adviser! Ours keeps our portfolio in balance for us in retirement. “In balance” is diversification as well as the level of risk within your portfolio.
Do you have control of your accounts or are they through your employer? Personally, I get nervous with retirement accounts tied to employment unless they provide you with a healthy, matching investment funds benefit.
I would think that at your age you’d want a conservative portfolio, especially if you are already in a ‘good place financially’ as you state. I would avoid high risk- I’m 56 and over the last 25+ years I’ve modified my portfolio from one of high risk to moderate/moderate conservative. Sure, I’m not making a huge amount every time the stock market skyrockets- but I’m also not losing that, either. Currently I have 65% of my personal retirement in a 60/40 balanced stock & bond index fund (making around 7% annually), with the other 35% in a stable value fund (making around 3.5% annually). I have a separate company retirement plan, too, but I don’t have any control over that… they match what I pay and that’s about as far as I’m involved.
My husband’s and my retirement plans are pretty simple… just to continue to live in our house (which is paid off) and travel once or twice a year with more exotic trips every few years. Continue to keep up our charitable contributions and to have as much discretionary income (i.e. ‘play money’) as we do now while I’m still working. Change out the vehicles every few years, paying cash. So far, we’re on track and that’s not counting on Social Security (which is mercurial… just recently the SS website posts on your statement that by 2035 the estimates are expected to be only around 80% of what they are today).
Talk to a financial adviser… Dave Ramsey’s website can recommend someone in your area, too, if you are unsure. Good advisers will meet with you for free. And don’t sign anything until you completely understand what they plan to do with your money. We met with someone last year and he immediately had papers in front of us to transfer our personal retirement accounts over to him to manage. We didn’t sign, of course, and never went back.
Thanks Mintjulep and Tekkiechikk for your input. We have contacted the Dave Ramsey website for advise. They have ‘7 Baby Steps’ that might help us decide.
